The Nightmare
by Snapplebloom
Summary: Dream the unicorn just moved to Ponyville with her sister. What will she do when ponies, including her own sister, are being plagued by nightmares? Rated T for language and violence later.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

When caught in a dream, one cannot obey the laws of physics. There is no such thing as "impossible", and anything can happen. Also, it is completely and utterly forbidden for one's conscience mind to be in control during one's dreaming moments. For the dreamland, ruled by the unconscious mind. That part of the mind that lays dormant during the day only to awake late in the night to reveal parts of you to yourself that you might not even realize. That part of you absolutely no one must know about.

The Monster that abides in each and every one of us.

The Monster doesn't bother itself with the trivial things in your everyday life, instead, it feeds off the truths and secrets buried in the deepest parts of your soul.

Waiting.

Waiting for sleep to wash over you so that it may reveal to you what you kept hidden deep within your heart.

….

Chapter 1

"There. Finally I'm finished." Dream stepped back to admire her handiwork. In less than a week she had bought this building with her life savings and used the remainder of cash to spruce the place up. It was a nice two story place with enough room on the first floor to open a small shop and enough apartment space upstairs to house her and her older sister, Doyle.

At the moment though, Dream was completely alone in this building located near the outside of Ponyville. Doyle was still back at the old apartment in Manehatten. The two unicorn sisters barely got by with the money from Dream's job at Glow Stix (a rave club) and Doyle's short poems and stories that she sent to the local newspaper for a couple of bits every day. She wrinkled her nose. Not because of the overpowering smell of drying paint, but because she remembered what her sister like to write about: Trashy romance one-shots with the occasional same gender pairings. It wasn't that Dream disliked the topic, hell she like a good romance just as much as anypony, but what she couldn't quite handle was what happened after the 'I love you' kiss. And Doyle took her sweet time explaining every last detail to make every scene as vivid as possible.

Dream felt her face flush and shook it head to clear her mind. _Enough of that!_ she thought to myself. After all, she still had things to finish before nightfall. She trotted over to a mirror hanging on the wall to check to see if my appearance was outside worthy. Dream's light blue, grey-ish fur was a little ruffled but still ok. She used her magic to quickly settle the magenta and pink hair into a perfect curl to settle around her horn and frame her face. She blinked lastly to examine her eyes. They were large eyes (just like everypony else) but what made them different was the double irises she had that were a deep, vivid shade of purple. Even though the trait is genetic, they still make her self-conscious.

She then trotted back to the counter that was fashioned with a beautiful glass display case and a new cash register to sit on top. Next to the register were 100 copies of a promotional poster ad for her new store, The Sweet Dream Shoppe. As her name suggests, Dream's special talent had to do with the psychological workings of the subconscious mind. The store would be full of bedtime teas, relaxing scents, charms, gems, and even books. There would even be a small room in the back for "sleep therapy", which included counseling for such things as nightmares and meaningful dreams.

She hoped to open the following Saturday with her sister. She would have to set up all the items and merchandise, get the back room organized, and not to mention pick up Doyle from the Ponyville station on Wednesday. But first things first, she must hang these poster ads all around the town. With a subtle flick of her head she levitated the stack of papers to her side. She then floated some sun glasses over her eyes to avoid the uncomfortable stares of other ponies. As she walked towards the front door, she let her glaze travel over the freshly painted walls, empty shelves and racks. After nodding her head in approval of her progress, Dream trotted out the door making sure to lock it behind her.

...

Dream woke on Monday morning feeling tired and spent. Sunday had been busy with the collecting and organizing of all the shops decorations and merchandise. Sure the movers helped some, but Dream liked things to be a certain way and their bumbling hooves only added to her stress. As much as she'd like to spend the whole day sleeping in, a letter she received from a ditzy grey pegasus pony motivated her to get up and start the day.

The letter was from her old co-worker and best friend, Two-Steppe. She was a lavender earthpony who loved loud colors and dancing. But most of all, she liked teasing Dream. The letter, written in Two-Steppe's sloppy writing, read:

Dear Dream,

I hope you have gotten everything settled over there in the tiny, country town of Ponyville. I know you must be so depressed without the staff of Glow Stix with you, but you must be strong to pursue your dream of owning your own store! I'll keep a watch on Doyle to make sure she's eating properly and such. Have fun and don't forget us little ponies!

Love,

Two-Steppe

Dream smiled until she let her gaze travel to the bottom of the paper.

(P.S. I know being a business owner is busy work and all, but when are you going to get a boyfriend? I'm not getting any younger you know. Cuzz you know if it weren't for me, you'd still be forever alone! Make me proud!)

Dream felt her face heat up as she stared disbelievingly at the letter. _How dare she!_ she thought. _She knows I have trust issues and not to mention Doyle's sister complex. If it were up to Doyle, I wouldn't ever marry anypony! Much less date one…_

Though, after a moment, she felt her anger wash away only to be replaced by loneliness. She missed everypony who were still back home. Even now as she lay in this still unfamiliar room in this even more unfamiliar town the loneliness threatened to strip her of all happy emotions.

Dream took a deep breath and held it as she went through everything she was thankful for. She did this whenever she felt herself getting depressed. Her lungs were screaming for air as she finished the list and let out the breath she was holding. _I'm sure a walk around town will lift my spirits_. After all, she still hasn't taken a good look at Ponyville yet. Dream hopped out of bed and stretched. Her spine tingled deliciously from the action. Today was going to be a good day. She could tell.

...

Clad in her sunglasses, Dream made her way to the café near the town square in Ponyville. Luckily for her, it was a bright and sunny day, so nopony questioned her sunglasses. But to her dismay, other ponies still gave her a questioning glance as she walked by. She forced herself to calm down and realize that the reason for the questioning looks was that she was a new face, not her eyes.

She let out a sigh as she finally walked into the café entrance.

"Welcome! What can I get for you today?" a cheery light brown earthpony asked as Dream stepped up to the counter. She winced a little at the sugar-coated words, but opened her mouth to order anyway.

"I guess I'll have a tall hay latte with a daisy scone." She said after briefly scanning the menu.

"Oh, my terribly sorry Miss, but we are all out of daisy scones!" Dream sighed.

"Ok how about the rose petal muffin?" The pony shook her head again.

"Those are our most popular items so they sell out quickly!" she chirped. Dream looked at her name tag from behind her shades.

"Look Brittany," she hissed. "What, in Celestia's name, do you have then?" The mare looked a little stunned before mumbling,

"Well the only thing we have in stock right now is roasted sunflower seeds…," Dream was just about to ask for some of the seeds when but her mouth snapped back shut as she heard the earthpony's nest choice of words. "But im sure if were here earlier, then maybe you could have had a better selection."

"Screw this, I can go find something else to eat!" Dream snapped before turning to storm out of the store. _Great_, Dream thought, _Now I'm hungry __and__ angry._

…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dream stormed out of the café in an angry huff. _Ponyville is making one hell of an impression on me. Well that café can take their sunflower seeds and shove them up their- _

"Psst hey!"

Dream's thought was interrupted by the sudden hushed whisper. Letting her sunglasses slip slightly down her muzzle, she scanned the mostly empty street for the source of the voice.

"Over h-here!" Turning back towards the café, she found the voice's owner, a brown unicorn filly, hiding in the shadows created by the café and an adjacent store. "H-hey, d-do you want some c-coffee?"

Dream blinked and stared at the unicorn as if she had to heads. Her fur was a rich tan and a mess of short chocolate brown (or should she say coffee brown?) hair made up her mane and tail. Striking lime-green eyes framed with long thick lashes and purple bags underneath finished off her caffeinated look. "D-do you want some c-coffee or not? I d-don't have all day you know."

Dream contemplated the consequences of her answer. Well she was rather thirsty… "Um, what kind?" she finally said softly. The other pony straightened up and shrugged.

"B-beats me. What k-kind do you like?" Now it was Dreams turn to shrug.

"Well your guess is as good as mine I suppose… Its all the same to me." She had the vague feeling right after she finished speaking that she said something wrong. The feeling only grew as she watched the tan unicorn's eye slowly begin to twitch.

"It's NOT all the SAME!" she finally yelled. Dream mentally kicked herself after sneaking a glance at the pony's cutie mark. Two coffee beans. Great. "There are many ways to enjoy the wonders of coffee, not just in a cup. It can be hot or c-cold and it can be put into p-pastries and it can b-be served with different flavors or you can put it into another d-dish and….and… You just g-go and say its all the same! Well its not ok? **You don't even **_**KNOW**_."

By the time she had finished her rant the other unicorn was breathing heavily and her right eye was twitching uncontrollably. She had taken interest in this blue unicorn because they both shared a strong dislike of coffee chain restaurants, but apparently the basis of their hatred were completely different reasons. She couldn't fathom how somepony could be so blind to the wonders of coffee. But, being the kind and considerate pony she is, she would properly educate this magenta haired unicorn. "Ehem, sorry about that… I'm Coffee Bean by the way."

Dream stared at the unicorn, mouth slightly ajar. This was the first time she had been on the receiving end of a 'Its my passion/ life purpose' rant and it was extremely unpleasant. She quickly shook her head to clear it and responded, "Oh don't worry about it. My names Dream." Coffee stared at her for a moment before nodding.

"Now how 'bout that coffee?"

…..

Using her magic, Dream slowly brought the steaming cup of vanilla coffee to her lips. As she took a cautious sip, she allowed herself a quick glance at her surroundings.

Coffee Bean's house was smaller than hers, but it had the 'welcome home' feeling that Dream was personally never able to obtain. It was decorated with browns, greens, and oranges and along with the thick smell of coffee in the air, the place gave off a strong aura of coziness.

She then let her gaze fall on a picture frame filled with a variety of orange and brown ponies. One of which she recognized as Coffee herself. She placed her cup down and asked, "Is that your family?"

Coffee Bean jumped at the voice. She had been immersed in her cup of hazelnut coffee and had completely forgotten Dream's presence. She quickly followed the other unicorn's gaze to the large silver frame. "Oh y-yeah, I have 26 other s-siblings. Since we worked on a C-coffee plantation, there needed to be lots of kid's t-to help work." Dream nodded.

"Then why aren't you working there now?" She asked.

The brown unicorn thought for a moment before responding. "It got t-too crowded. I was the oldest, so I j-just upped and left. I tried to open a c-coffee shop here in P-ponyville, but it turns out my dislike of crowds extends past my own f-family. So I usually just stay home and r-read or somethin'." Dream let out a small chuckle and Coffee shot her a questioning look. "Um, I f-fail to see h-how that was f-funny…"

Dream shook her head still smiling. "Nothing, you just remind me of my sister. She hates crowds too."

"Oh, you h-have a sister?" Coffee asked excitedly. _Another pony to educate on the wonders of coffee!_ She added quietly to herself.

"Yep. Her names Doyle and she's coming here Wednesday." Coffee Bean was about to ask another question when something about Dream caught her eye. Why hadn't she noticed this before?

"Wait, why a-sre you w-wearing sunglasses inside?" Dream jumped. She had forgotten she was even wearing them.

"Oh I'm just a little self-conscience about my eyes." She said nervously.

"Well, I'm self-conscience about my st-stutter bout you don't s-see me g-g-going mute!"

Dream sighed. No point in arguing with the brown unicorn. "Fine." She grumbled. Using her dark pink magic she slipped off her sunglasses, closed them up and gently placed them on the table. She was surprised that Coffee Bean's only reaction was her eyes widening a little before returning to her coffee cup.

"I-I don't know w-what you're so scared ab-about. I m-mean they l-look cool." She brought her coffee up to her lips with her lime green magic and took a sip. "You'd b-be the life of the p-party at a night c-club."

At this Dream let out a laugh. "I actually used to work at a rave club in Manehatten!" she confessed between giggles.

"No way, s-seriously?" Coffee Bean was laughing too. "I d-didn't know I w-was psychic." The two mares shared another round of laughs for a few more minutes before finishing off their coffees.

"I have to hand it to you girl, I didn't know there was more than one way to enjoy coffee."

Success! "Oh d-dear we're only g-getting started." Coffee winked a knowing gleam in her bright, lime-green eyes. Dream noticed this, and although it unnerved her, she didn't comment on it.

…

**AN:**

**Please READ and REVIEW! They're much appreciated!**


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